


permanent ink

by orphan_account



Series: the marks we make [3]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: (as in 2 words), M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Swearing, at least i hope its soft, dont worry its all soft again, we got rid of all the bad tags from last time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 00:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21290708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: in which we will always do it together.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Lee Hangyul
Series: the marks we make [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1523648
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	permanent ink

"Are you really doing this, Hangyul?"

"We need the money, it's the only way."

"But the Unit didn't work, and that was one of the nicest shows out there. This is 100% Mnet certified trash but with a random X in it."

"They're saying something about this year's group being global, if I debut again here we can do something about the company being on the verge of debt."

"Hangyul-"

"It's going to be fine, Seungyoun. Really."

It was only a few days since Mnet had revealed the new season at the end of MAMA, and that very morning in December, Hangyul and a few other boys were pulled aside by leadership and told that they were being sent to audition for Produce X 101.

"Hangyul, I don't think this is the right way." Seungyoun said, lunch from the cafe they were at forgotten. "It's entirely scripted, and Mnet will do anything to create drama, they'll twist and turn every bit of footage against you. You don't need it this early in your career."

"It's not for me, Seungyoun." Hangyul replied. "It's for the other trainees."

Even though he hated to say it, MBK Entertainment was on the border of going bankrupt. When he had finally debuted with Kijung, Taeeun and Kiseok after delays and delays, he only had one song, one performance, hardly anything more before it was back at the office preparing for something he couldn't see. Even when he debuted, it was as a sub-unit of a larger group of even more people that never got to debut. MBK couldn't afford enough promotions, they hardly gained any attention. It was rather sad to see.

But even so, every day Hangyul saw kids running around the company chasing a dream they had held onto for so long and were trying to accomplish even in the dire circumstances. Realistically, they needed money to do it. Produce X 101 had extreme advertising, the whole country watched. Hell, the _world_ was watching. If Hangyul went into the competition wearing MBK's name and made it up the ranks, people would start to notice MBK and these kids could get the attention they need to get out there and make that dream come true. 

Maybe his dream could come true in the process.

Seungyoun looked at his watch and immediately got up. "Shit!" he said in English. "I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late-"

"I'll pack this up for you!" Hangyul said as he got Seungyoun's phone for him before he forgot it.

"I'm sorry for rushing out last minute," he said as he pecked a small kiss by Hangyul's cheek as he ran away to get a taxi. Before he left the cafe, he raised his hand to wave goodbye, revealing a tattoo of 2 faces hiding behind the sleeve. "I love you!"

Hangyul raised the same hand with the same tattoo. "I love you too."

-

"Hyung's going to be an oppa like Kang Daniel!"

"Jisoo, please."

"You're going to look SEXY on stage!"

"Jisoo, you are nine. Please."

Hangyul was watching a movie with kids from the orphanage he used to live in and had accidentally slipped that he was going on Produce X 101. Somehow the kids were handling this much better and were only worried about whether or not he would take off his shirt on international TV to get votes. At the point that the conversation was advancing at, Hangyul was starting to think it wasn't all that bad an idea.

"Can we watch you every weekend again?" someone asked from the growing crowd of children.

"No, Channie, it goes too late," Hangyul said to a chorus of groans. "Why are you booing me, I'm right! The Unit only went up to 11 at night on a weekend, but that's when Produce X 101 starts, and it keeps going on until 1 in the morning on a school night!"

"Since when did you care about bedtime?" another volunteer said.

"Shh, I am right. Also," he said as he realized the credits had started rolling, "I believe it is now time for _your_bedtime."

"Already?" the kids said in unison.

"Yes, already," the volunteer, Jiyeon, said. "Come on, let's go."

As Jiyeon herded the kids to their rooms, Hangyul cleaned up the spilled popcorn and vacuumed the room. After a few minutes when Hangyul finished, Jiyeon came back.

"Are you really being sent to Produce X 101?" she asked as she sat down on a couch carefully.

"They're making me audition," Hangyul said as he got down on another seat. "I actually hope I make it in."

"Why?" Jiyeon said. 

"Noona, it's for the best. We need the publicity. And I could make it out there."

"Yes, but we saw how the Unit and Under Nineteen went. They barely made it out there. What makes you think you can make the audition and get the country to back you up?"

"Not the country I'm relying on," Hangyul said. "I need to cope with Mnet."

Jiyeon sighed. "Hangyul, I support you to go to the show, but I'm just warning you that it's going to be really hard to win. Competition is high, and there are going to be trainees with even more potential than you."

"I know, I know," Hangyul muttered. "But all I'm focusing on is that it's helping others, not me."

"Gosh, you're always like this, putting others before you and not worrying nearly enough about yourself." she sighed. "How's Seungyoun doing?"

"Seungyoun, hm?" Hangyul leaned back a bit. "He's good. He released a new song a month back, I already told you. He's really proud of it."

"I saw, it was really good." Jiyeon said with a smile. "What's going on with UNIQ?"

"Ah, that," Hangyul sighed. "Nobody knows anymore. They hardly promote because of some political things, Seungyoun says he barely keeps contact."

"That's too bad, didn't they get recognized by that Time magazine at some point? They were at the top and competed with EXO-M at some points. It's so sad to see them in this state."

"It really is," Hangyul said. "But Seungyoun's doing just fine as he is. He doesn't like acting and favors music much more. He's in his comfort zone when he makes music, it's adorable."

"You really love him, don't you?"

"I do. I really do."

"Fate made a perfect match," she said as she looked at her own arms. Arms that had been empty for years by someone just like what Hangyul had been like in the beginning.

"Jiyeon," he said, "you don't need magic arms to guide you to love. You can do it on your own."

"Can I?"

"Of course."

A set of beeps came from Hangyul's phone. "That's me," he said as he got up, Jiyeon getting up too. "I'll see you later."

"Thank you, Hangyul." she said. "I wish you the best for the show."

\- 

"You're getting a tattoo?" Hangyul said some months ago.

"Yes I am!" Seungyoun replied with a big smile that nearly closed his eyes. "I'm doing it and nobody can stop me!"

"That's no fair, I'm getting one too!"

"Well, then I'll get two!"

"Then I'll get four!"

"Then I'll get eight!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"No it's not!"

Such had began a conversation at Hangyul's apartment for dinner, even though none of them knew where it had originated from. Such is what they refer to as "crackhead behavior."

"Are you actually getting eight tattoos, though?" Hangyul said as he took another big bite.

"Of course not, you idiot," Seungyoun chuckled. "At least, not in one day."

"But if it's just the one, what are you gonna get?"

"The faces."

"Ah."

It was only a month ago that the symbols had been first etched on, but from time to time Seungyoun had found himself redrawing it. He didn't know what made him do it, but he found himself emotionally attached. Plus, every time he did it he found it a little better than the scrawled piece Hangyul had tried to do on Seungyoun's art. He hoped Hangyul would never know about that part.

"One sided or two?" Hangyul asked Seungyoun as he drank water to make it seem nonchalant. He was referring to the types of tattoo inks made for soulmates, one type hiding itself from their soulmate and the other being normal, passing through the link.

"Hangyul, of course it's going to be two-sided." he told Hangyul. "We both know one-sided ones are stupid."

"I know, but a lot of people with tattoos prefer one-sided ones these days, and you're always up to the times on everything."

"Hangyul, no sense of individuality would involve me leaving you out." Seungyoun put his arm next to Hangyul. "We're together in this, aren't we?"

"We are." Hangyul replied. "Always."

"If you really want one too, you can come with me, we'll get our first tattoos together!" Seungyoun said as he leaned back. "What are you going to get?"

Hangyul sat in thought for a few moments. "I don't know."

"It's okay, we'll see if they have any pretty drawings." Seungyoun replied. "We're really getting tattoos!"

"We really are!" Hangyul said back. Then he stopped. "Wait, what will my mom think?"

"Oh damn, you're right." A sudden flashback of a slipper being thrown crossed Seungyoun's mind.

"You know what, it'll be fine." Hangyul said as he got up to put the dishes away. "We're adults now, we can do what we want."

"We really can, can't we?"

"I fell in love with an adventurous person," Hangyul said with a shrug.

"You didn't fall in love with me though?" Seungyoun asked. "We were made to be together."

Hangyul sat down. "That doesn't mean fate could be wrong." His face came forward as he pecked a kiss to Seungyoun's cheek. "And now I know it wasn't."

"Of course it wasn't," Seungyoun said. He leaned forward a bit. "It never is."

That day, with eyes locked, dishes forgotten, work irrelevant, all other troubles exiled, the world truly made way for a kiss that had been waiting so long to happen. A kiss that would be only the first of many others.

-

Seungyoun checked his back in the mirror. Heavily inked, from the numerous times he and Hangyul went to the tattoo parlor, laughing with the artist even as she herself asked not to, just having fun with the very thing that brought them together. But even more than the reason that they had gotten their individual tattoos, Seungyoun loved Hangyul's explanation of their meanings together the most.

"In the middle, you see my super big tattoos, right? And in the middle, there are all yours surrounding it," Hangyul would start. "So you're like my protection, because you're on the outside. But without me, it's an empty shell and it'll fall over. So I'm kind of like your missing piece. You know?"

The first time Seungyoun heard it, he laughed a bit because the way Hangyul said it seemed adorable and childish. But the more he thought about it, he was right. Hangyul and Seungyoun fit like puzzle pieces, just like their tattoos. And they were always there for each other.

Fate really tried their best, huh?

It was almost a year ago, but Seungyoun could still remember how sad Hangyul felt at the end of the Unit's finale, how after he came back home he tried talking about how it was so nice that Kijung made it into UNB, but he could see right through. Hangyul really wanted to debut and perform on a big stage the whole time.

And that was why two days ago he had applied for Produce X 101 upon Hangyul telling him about his application, yesterday he had been yelled at by leadership but had snuck through with some improvised "marketing" and "but Wenhan" bogus, and today he was going to tell Hangyul about it. Hopefully Hangyul wouldn't break down Mnet's doors to repeal Seungyoun's application.

Dressing up, he finally got ready to leave. He had arranged another meeting at their favorite cafe between the agencies, got his taxi, made it there, and was ready to get yelled at.

"Hyung!"

"I still don't know where you started that up." Seungyoun said as he found a chair to sit in. 

"So, what's happening?" Hangyul said as he motioned another few minutes to a waitress. 

"Oh, nothing much," Seungyoun replied. "Jimin found a new cafe she liked, I applied for Produce X 101, and there's this weird bug-"

"_What._" a low voice responded

"There's a weird bug that just stays in one place on the ceiling and it's been there for days," Seungyoun said nonchalantly. "Gee, Hangyul. If you want to know something at least wait for it to get out."

"Hyung, you know what I'm talking about."

"Ah yes, Produce X 101." he said, giving a break to order plain water by the waitress. "I applied."

"Why."

"Oh you know, it's good for marketing for YueHua as these days with tensions rising with Chin-"

"Seungyoun, even Trump couldn't make you audition for Produce X 101. You were literally telling me how much of a bad idea it was 3 days ago." The waitress took Hangyul's order of the same thing and left. "Why?"

"Oh you know.." 

Seungyoun's casual tone was brought to a stop by Hangyul staring into his eyes intently with his eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't playing.

"Well," he sighed. "It's for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't want you to go alone."

"Hyung, it's just some survival show full of kids. There's literally no reason to do this." Hangyul retorted.

"The Unit was a survival show too."

"I didn't-"

"You did. You were hurt. I know." Seungyoun put his hand on top of Hangyul's, even though he felt it nudge away. "We can do this together."

"What if you don't make it in?"

"Hangyul, I debuted in the eyeliner era. I'm literally a veteran with years of experience. There's no reason Mnet could say no to me."

"But it's really suspicious if you go alone, isn't it? What will the media think?"

"The media hardly remembers me," Seungyoun said. It was true, he was hardly credited as a member of UNIQ anymore. "Plus, the company decided to send some more kids just to be safe."

"But what's the point?" Hangyul said, sipping from the now delivered water from the waitress.

"Hangyul, we both need a new chance in our careers, don't we?" Hangyul looked down. "I know you think you're doing this for the other trainees, but all you want to do is to be on the big stage again." Seungyoun squeezed his hand. "And I do too. And we can do it. Together."

"Are you sure?" Hangyul muttered. His grip tightened on Seungyoun's. It was ever so small, but Seungyoun noticed.

"Of course, Hangyul." He lifted up their hands so their sleeves fell back and the almost nostalgic tattoo was visible. "We're bound together by fate, aren't we? So we gotta look out for each other. We'll keep going," he said with a pause.

Hangyul took a breath in, and finished the statement from months before. "Together."

"You always help me when I need it most. I have to help you too. And this is my way of doing it." Hangyul looked back up as he nodded. "So let's crush this show, shall we?"

"Yep."

"And we'll do it how?" Seungyoun asked, leaning forward.

"We'll do it together." Hangyul said, gravity bringing them closer.

They could only see each other before they came together for the kiss. It was just like the first time. It was full of love. Love that never slows down.

Love made by fate itself.

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHHHHHH i dont know what i wrote
> 
> If you liked it, leave a comment telling me what you liked the most! I favor them more than kudos because it lets me know you're really here and I can learn from them! or just kudos and run away ig
> 
> Other things worth nothing:  
\- Jiyeon from the second part here has nothing to do with anything and is just to keep plot going  
\- I looked at Seungyul's back tattoos too much just to come up with the conclusion that they fit like puzzle pieces  
\- hyung's going to be an oppa like kang daniel!! :0  
\- If it wasn't clear, the third part was a flashback.  
\- The timing makes no sense whatsoever, ignore it.  
\- I know I could've done more when they were kids, but I jumped ahead too early so I couldn't turn back. I'm sorry if you wanted babie!seungyul back.  
\- Please tell me if it was bad because I know it was, this was written all at night with no editing whatsoever.  
\- hyung's going to look SEXY on stage :00  
\- I have never written a kiss scene, let alone had one in real life.  
\- seungyul is superior.
> 
> Thank you for coming with me on this short journey of a series, originating from a small idea to nearly 5 thousand words across two different websites. Remember to love yourself, stream Like Always, and as always, have a wonderful day.


End file.
